Tunisia sank deeper into political crisis Thursday, as the ruling Islamist party rejected its own prime minister's decision to replace the government after the assassination of a leftist politician. A few dozen protesters also tried to demonstrate in front of the Interior Ministry but were driven off by tear gas.

The murder of Chokri Belaid, a 48-year-old secularist and a fierce critic of hardline Islamists as well as the more moderate ruling party, laid bare the challenges facing this nation of 10 million, whose revolution two years ago sparked the Arab Spring uprisings. (AP)